Sympathy for the Devil
by breaker-one
Summary: This a very belated Valentine's Day story. Balamb's former Instructor meets the infamous Sorceress' Knight. Is it possible to fogive him? A one shot fic with Seiftis undertones (hopefully I avoided some cliches) R


Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII, its characters and storyline all belong to Squaresoft. The song "Sympathy for the Devil" belongs to the Rolling Stones. The song "Valentine" belongs to The Get Up Kids. I own nothing but the plot line for this story.  
  
A/N: This is a one shot FFVIII story. It's a very belated Valentine's Day story starring our favourite Instructor and Knight. (It has Seiftis undertones : D) I haven't finished the whole game yet, so please tell me if they are out of character or if I got something wrong. Words in {} are the song lyrics.  
  
Sympathy for the Devil  
  
Quistis roamed the streets of Deiling City, looking for nothing or no one in particular. Just enjoying the cold night for a change. True, she had been upset when she first lost her instructor's license, but now she had so much free time she didn't think she wanted to go back to being a teacher. It was far better being out here, in the crisp winter air, than being in her stuffy dorm room, hunched over her desk marking piles and piles of tests and assignments. The soft, white snowflakes floated around her, some catching onto her blonde hair, others clinging to her red jacket. It was Valentine's Day. Quistis herself hated the holiday. She just didn't see the point of it. Just another gimick for stores to get more money than they deserved... Okay, maybe she was a little bitter. Maybe she was upset that she didn't have anyone to celebrate the holiday with. But, she had made it thus far alone and Quistis figured she could continue on alone.  
  
At least for a little while.  
  
She strolled along casualy, glancing into store windows, but not really seeing anything she liked. Quistis stopped in front of a bar and stood outside it for a while debating whether or not to go inside. She never really went to bars - they held no interest for her. Quistis knew she had better things to do then sit around in a bar watching people, young and old, get drunk. Still she paused. It was Valentine's Day and it might be nice to have just one drink then head back to Balamb Garden. Quistis reached for the door handle, but was caught off guard by someone slamming through it. She backed off slightly as the tall figure summbled into her. The person was large and she nearly fell backwards, but years of SeeD training allowed her to stay on her feet. The figure was caught off guard by ramming into Quistis. He stummbled away from her and tripped over his own feet, falling flat on his face. The bartender, a large man with thick black hair, was standing in the doorway and yelled and the obviously drunken man near Quistis' feet. "And don't come back!" The bar door slammed shut. The drunk got up, swaying on his feet and picked up his jacket that was thrown out with him. "Fucker," he muttered and put on the coat.  
  
{It's words you forget to aniversary songs. The bottles bite back, your tolerence wrong.}  
  
Quistis stood off to the side trying to place the figure. She could have sworn she knew him. The man now had the grey trench coat on and her turned towards Quistis. She almost gasped in surprise when she saw the infamous scar the man wore across his forehead and the bridge of his nose - Seifer Almasy. He blinked when he saw Quistis and stepped back slightly. Quistis took a moment to get a good look at him. His golden hair caught the lights of the bar sign and shone different shades of blond. His hair was longer and no longer slicked back, almost imitating the hairstyle Squall himself wore. It was also matted against his head and several chunks of it hung in his eyes. His eyes were still as green as they were before, but they were now redened and puffy from lack of sleep and alcohol. His physique was almost the same, but Quistis noticed that he was slimmer and less toned then before. His coat almost swallowed him whole.  
  
But, it was still Seifer.  
  
Quistis didn't know what to think at first. A surge of emotions ran through her - surprise, anger, hurt - but she just stood there, staring back at him. He recognised her now and snorted as he shook his head slightly, almost in disbelief. Quistis was still speechless. What was she going to say to Seifer - the man who had betrayed her and everyone else at Balamb Garden for...for...Quistis didn't even fully comprehend why he'd done it. Seifer must have seen the anger in her face. He looked away in shame, hands stuck in his pockets, feet shuffling. Quistis saw the shine of tears in his eyes from the glaring lights of the bar. "What, are you jus' gonna stand there?" Seifer asked, somewhat angrily and slurring his words. He swayed on his feet and stummbled, yet quickly regained his balance. Looking at his pathetic appearence and seeing the shame etched across his face almost broke Quistis' heart. What happened to the old Seifer - the one she knew? The Seifer who didn't care what anyone thought. Who went out and did what he wanted, when he wanted and not one person could tell him otherwise.  
  
This Seifer stood shamful and broken, drunk almost to the point of passing out, tears almost coursing down his stubbled cheeks.  
  
Quistis felt something she never though she would for Seifer - sympathy. She couldn't possibly imagine all he'd been through in the past year. Being the Sorceress' Knight must have gotten so much hate from the population. She doubted they had any sympathy for the man who had murdered innocent people.  
  
{Your good intentions count for little anymore. You're sorry why wage war?}  
  
Seifer had failed. He'd failed to be a SeeD, he failed at being a sorceresses knight. Quistis herself knew what failure was like. She'd failed at being in a normal family. She was an orphan just like Seifer, Squall, Selphie and everyone else back at the orphanage. She'd failed as an instructor - no leadership qualities, showed favourtism. Hell, she'd even failed in her own love life. Quistis didn't feel any more anger at Seifer. Instead, she felt compassion for him. For once, she knew and understood how he felt and what he felt like - a failure.  
  
{I'm not fully convinced that there's something wrong with this. Could another point of view, biased and untrue, tear me away from you?}  
  
Seifer turned back to her and his expression changed. He looked surprised. Surprised that Quistis Trepe had any sympathy for him? Most likely. He blinked fiercly and tried to frown while he swayed on the spot. He looked like he was going to leave soon. Quistis couldn't let him go without saying anything. He'd go on each night, getting drunker and drunker, possibly even killing himself with all this alcohol in his system. Quistis had to say something before he left, never knowing that there was at least one person in the world who forgave him for his deeds.  
  
{You bend and you wave when you're barely away. I wish I could say tonight that when you bend and wave goodbye you'd take me with you.}  
  
Quistis smiled at Seifer. A true smile with no teasing attached to it. Again Seifer looked surprised. Then he smiled back. Not a smirk, but a smile. Quistis didn't think she'd ever seen him smile before. She was sorry she hadn't until tonight.  
  
He looked so handsome when he smiled...  
  
He winked at her playfuly.  
  
"Instructor," he said with out slurring.  
  
"Almasy, " Quistis said back.  
  
Seifer chuckled quietly and turned away, shaking his head. He glanced back at her one last time. Quistis raised her hand to him in a wave. He raised his own hand and started to walk away.  
  
{Will you be my valentine if I'm a world away? Apologies are breaking me. The constants aren't so constant anymore.}  
  
Quistis still smiled as she watched his golden head disapear in the snow. Pausing for a minute, she looked upwards at the stars who winked back at her. She smiled softly again, then turned and left, going in the opposite direction of the knight.  
  
Maybe this Valentine's Day wasn't so bad after all.  
  
{The constants aren't so constant anymore.} 


End file.
